9:08am Thursday 18th March 2010
By Scott Wilson
A CONTENT Chris Hughton last night conceded Newcastle had established an extremely strong position at the top of the Championship table, but continued to insist that promotion to the Premier League is not an inevitability.
A comprehensive 3-0 victory over a desperately poor Scunthorpe left the Magpies 12 points clear of third-placed Nottingham Forest, with a game in hand over their East Midlands rivals.
Their superior goal difference means that five wins from their ten remaining matches will effectively guarantee promotion after goals from Andy Carroll (2) and Peter Lovenkrands secured a 15th home win of an increasingly successful campaign.
Hughton could hardly have wished for such a strong position when Newcastle slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Scunthorpe last October, but a run of just one defeat in 23 subsequent league games has left Newcastle with one foot in the topflight.
“It’s a healthy lead,” said the manager, who also saw his side equal a club record of 18 league clean sheets in a season as they cruised to victory.
“It’s a wonderful position that we’ve worked hard to put ourselves in.
“We always knew the most important gap would be the one between first and third position, and that’s the one we’re concentrating on. We’ve worked hard to be able to open up that gap.
“But the most important thing is that we keep winning matches because we haven’t achieved anything yet.
“I’m delighted with the application tonight, we’re a side that’s playing very well at home. We’re a very confident team here at St James’, but we have to take that confidence into every game because we have two tough away games coming up and they could bring us back down to earth.”
Last night’s game never looked like grounding Newcastle’s promotion push, with the hosts scoring twice inside the opening 22 minutes.
Carroll’s header broke the deadlock, before Lovenkrands added a second with a low strike following Wayne Routledge’s through ball.
Carroll’s 14th goal of the season made the win safe ten minutes into the second half, and drew the England Under- 21 international alongside his Danish strike partner in the race to finish the season as Newcastle’s leading scorer.
“It’s a healthy battle, although the obvious thing for me to say is that it doesn’t really matter who scores as long as someone does,” said Hughton. “But I know it matters to them.
“If you’re a striker, or someone who’s scoring goals, you want to win that competition, and it’s a very healthy competition to have.”
Carroll’s second goal revealed a hitherto well-hidden ability to finish from an acute angle with his left foot.
The 21-year-old is developing an all-round attacking game that is serving Newcastle well, and will no doubt relish the challenge of leading the club’s line on a regular basis in the Premier League.
“His second goal sums him up at the moment,” said Hughton. “The quality was superb. It was a great ball from Danny Guthrie, but he had to show some real pace to get on it, and then produce a quality finish.
“It was the finish of someone in a really confident mood and he’s definitely developing his game. I thought his all-round game was excellent.”
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